Max Lykov

I've had a lot of changes in my life this year, but the biggest one has been my move from Moscow to Sochi. My wife had the opportunity to open a clothing store inside Rosa Khutor, the best spa resort in the city. Since it's located on the main road of the Olympic village at the top of the mountain, ...more

In August I was nominated for the Most Inspiring Player Award as part of the PokerListings Spirit of Poker Awards. I have to admit that I was a little surprised. Up until April, it had been a quiet nine months for me because of my visa problems. I managed to get 4th place in the High Roller event at...more

I made it to the World Series of Poker this year. The US embassy gave me a visa. I was very glad to go because it was terrible to skip these tournaments last year. This year my wife and I rented an apartment in Palms Place, very close to the Rio, and a Chevy Camaro convertible. When the sun was out ...more

I've talked before about my visa problems. They forced me to stay home in Russia all winter. As a result I spent a lot of time playing online poker and working on my game.
Eventually it all paid off in a big way. March was an amazing month for me. In the span of 10 days, I won the Sunday Warm-up an...more

The last time I wrote a blog, it was all about my travel problems in 2012. Sad to say, it was a bad start to 2013 for me. My travel woes continued as I was unable to make it to the PCA. It was the same situation as EPT Prague - I was refused a visa. I don't know what happening or why nobody wants to...more

2012 has been a trying year for me. As you know, back in April when I turned in my documents to apply for a U.S. visa to come out for the World Series of Poker, the U.S. embassy lost my passport. Not only was I forced to skip the WSOP, but I had to miss almost every EPT event this season except for ...more

Well, it's been an interesting year, to say the least. Poker has provided me a lot of great opportunities, including the ability to travel and see the world. I have been on the road fairly consistently ever since I had my first big win at EPT Kyiv back in 2009. Of course, with travel sometimes co...more